1. Using Student Experience Data to Support Academic Development and the Enhancement of Learning & Teaching 28 th January 2011

2. Programme 10:30 – 10:45Welcome and Introduction 10:45 – 11:15How the NSS is Used in Different HEIs 11:15 – 12:00Roles of Educational Developers in using the NSS for Enhancement 12:00 – 12:30Opportunities and Barriers 12:30 – 13:15Lunch 13:15 – 15:15Institutional Case Study, Sharing Experiences and Considering Long-Term Pro-active Approaches 15:15 – 15:30Action Planning 15:30Close

3. The HEA Perspective on the NSS Starting point for discussion and exploration League tables Enhancement HEA activities: Institutional Working Group, subject centre events, Surveys for Enhancement conference (bookings now open!), workshops like this Data analysis (e.g. disciplinary analysis, analysis of free-text comments), case studies, research, reports

4. Quick overview of the NSS

5. Proven validity of the NSS Construct validity Factor analysis shows that the scales do seem to measure specific aspects of students perception Criterion validity Correlation between survey results and an external criterion of quality – i.e. correlation between results for Q1-Q21 & Q22 Discriminative validity Survey does distinguish between the things you would expect: institutions, subjects, departments, demographic groups

6. NSS Comparisons Differences between institutions –Highly reliable, but small Differences between departments/faculties/schools –Relatively large, but often unreliable Differences between disciplines –Relatively large, and reliable, but limited investigation

7. Example: Assessment & Feedback Reasons for caution: Different wording Differing effect on Q22 Possible inherent limitations on scores?

8. NSS Complaints Students are biased... –Evidence suggests that probably isnt true Its only a very crude measure... –It can provide a starting point for investigation What do students know about teaching quality? –Some correlation between scores and other measures of quality Results can be manipulated... –Unlikely to be widespread, but... It promotes a customer model of HE... –That depends on how the results are used Only disgruntled students fill it in... –Response rate is over 60%

9. NSS resources on the EvidenceNet Wiki http://evidencenet.pbworks.com/w/page/26999870/The-National-Student- Survey Annotated bibliography (with links) Directory of institutional activities...Dimensions of Quality...and dont forget the main EvidenceNet site www.heacademy.ac.uk/EvidenceNet...and dont forget the 2011 Surveys for Enhancement Conference! 19 th May, Nottingham